I recommend this book for anyone interested in the future of humanity. That should include most of us. Kelly makes up a new term --- the technium --- to include technology and all of human culture --- everything humans make, do, think, write, all human institutions and organizations, law, science, politics, art, --- everything. He draws examples from many areas of human activity and these examples illustrate his general arguments very well. They give substance to the book and are well worth knowing even if you don't accept all his theory. He talks about the Amish's considered evaluations of new technology and he mistakenly accepts Ted Kaczinsky's (the Unabomber) anti-technology arguments. "The Unabomber was Right" is the title of his chapter 10. It would have been easy to refute Kaczynski's arguments with other material Kelly provides, but he doesn't do it. In any case this book goes way beyond the Amish and the Unabomber.
Although most of his examples are about what we usually think of as technology, I wish he would have put more emphasis on the non-technology aspects of human culture such as law and current politico-economic systems since these "technologies" right now seem to need much improvement. But maybe that would require another book.
A few high points for me were his recognition that evolution is continuous from the big bang onward through the indefinite future, that evolution is a force and has a direction, that evolution wants progress. Humanity will progress in the short run and in the long run, although there can be temporary setbacks in any area. Evolution is not totally random. It has recurring patterns and biases. For example biological evolution has generated eyes independently on earth multiple times. Cultural evolution, what Kelly calls the technium evolution, is a natural seamless overlapping continuation of biological evolution since all particular evolutions are parts of the universal evolution.
Here are a few quotes everyone should understand, but most people don't or won't.
"Human nature is malleable." Yes, it evolves along with everything else, but most people act like it's fixed.
"... shared knowledge is often superior to even a million individuals."
"From one cosmic perspective information is the dominant force in our world."
"Both life and technology seem to be based on immaterial flows of information." Yes. Evolution can be seen to be the evolution of information. This is a more coherent view.
"Over time our laws, mores, and ethics have slowly expanded the sphere of human empathy."
"Life and mind emerge not as the result of freakish accidents, but as natural manifestations of matter, written into the fabric of the universe."
"Nothing is complete, all is in flux, and the only thing that counts is the direction of movement." I wish those who believe that we now know the one and only true economic system, the one that is the best of all possible, now and forever, could understand that nothing is complete, all is in flux.
"The conflict that the technium triggers in our hearts is due to our refusal to accept our nature---the truth is that we are continuous with the machines we create. We are self-made humans, our own best invention. When we reject technology as a whole, it is a brand of self hatred."
"An awful lot of the shape of your life is given to you and is beyond your control, but your freedom to choose within those givens is huge and significant."
"Anyone who is inventing, discovering, and expanding possibilities will indirectly expand possibilities for others."
"The drift toward mutualism in the technium is moving us toward the old dream: to maximize both individual human autonomy and the power of people working together." The old apparent dilemma of individual versus community can now be seen to be an illusion. Individual and community are not separable in theory or practice. Neither can exist without the other. Neither can be understood without the other. Both can only have arisen together through genetic and cultural (memetic) coevolution.
"In the future we'll find it easier to love technology."
"... the technium is rapidly discovering new ways to know."
"... it is evolving more ability to evolve, or greater evolvability."
"If we fail to enlarge the possibilities for other people, we diminish them, and that is unforgivable."
I have a few disagreements or instances where I would put a different emphasis.
"The technium is a global force beyond human control." Kelly should be more careful with statements like this. Such statements feed the fear bugaboo many people have of technology. We always have some control but never total control. This is the nature of existence in general. This is nothing particular to technology.
"We are at a tipping point where the technium's ability to alter us exceeds our ability to alter the technium." This is an apparent "us vs them" dilemma where the us and the them are actually inseparable both in principle and in practice. The technium is part of humanity and humanity is part of the technium. Neither can be understood without understanding the other. They really are not two separate things at all. Neither would or could or can exist without the other. They can only have come into existence together through their coevolution. The quoted sentence is meaningless. It's a bogyman. It's a misunderstanding of evolution. There is a unity here, and unity means unsplittable. Humanity is more than warm bodies. Humans use things and make things. You can't be human without moving around and changing the world. The mistake is assuming humans can be separated from the rest of the world and the things we create (the technium).
"Ted Kaczynski ... was right about one thing: Technology has its own agenda. It is selfish." Wrong, wrong, wrong! See the preceding paragraph. Another way to see that technology cannot have its "own" agenda is that it is coevolving inseparably with us and thus any agenda it may have is also ours. This coevolution can also be seen as expanding us as individual humans by expanding our minds. OK, we have a warm body and a warm wet mushy brain. What else? We have a mind. Our immaterial mind is all the information our brain and body have or use to run our life. The mind, being information, is not localized only to the brain or body. The mind extends beyond the body. It is now clear, as Kelly notes, that much of our memory resides on the web. Much of our thought occurs outside our bodies. Even doing simple things such as making and using written notes, doing long division with pencil and paper or a calculator prove that our minds extend beyond our bodies and brains. Our minds are living and evolving, always changing. (How many times did you change your mind today?) So as the technium expands and evolves, our minds are expanding and evolving with it. So the technium can't get "ahead" of us. It can't leave us "behind". Evolving, expanding human culture can't leave humans behind. Humans are inseparable from human culture.
Kelly quotes Kaczynski: "The system does not and cannot exist to satisfy human needs. Instead it is human behavior that has to be modified to fit the needs of the system." The system was created to satisfy human needs. In so far as the system does not satisfy human needs humans can modify it so it does satisfy them. Since the system and humans are evolving inseparably together as humans modify the system we can expect that the system will modify humans and their needs. This is coevolution. In coevolution, both "parts" change. So it is a gross misunderstanding of evolution to just say, as Kaczynski does, that "it is human behavior that needs to be modified to fit the needs of the system." In coevolution all parts change. Besides, human behavior is always being modified --- by wind, rain, earthquakes, food, money, disease, other people, snakes and spiders. You can continue the list. The idea of technology completely controlling us is a bogyman. It's like saying birds' nests completely control birds. Or that the beavers' technology completely controls beavers. The obvious answer to the specter of control is simple and direct: Partly yes; completely, no. Kelly clarifies this elsewhere in the book. All evolution occurs within the constraints of physics, geometry, and its previous history. Within those constraints evolution has a kind of free will.
I could comment on Kaczynski further but his mistakes all seem to arise from either his lack of understanding of evolution or his assumption that human nature is fixed or should be. Many people make similar mistakes. And most people have no conception of how evolution works. Human nature is not fixed. And all evolution is coevolution. Kelly shouldn't have mentioned Kaczynski and affirmed his negative views towards technology, not because he was the Unabomber but because his ideas about technology were so totally wrong. It's a real shame Kelly couldn't see through Kaczynski's flawed arguments although he provides enough material to refute them elsewhere in the book.
But "What Technology Wants" goes way beyond Kaczynski and the Amish.
Buy, read, and understand this book. It will speed up the progress of humanity.
Joe Rebholz
4 NOV 10
I discuss memetic evolution (cultural evolution) and the unity of individual and community in my book
No More War Memes.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Flip to back Flip to front
Follow the Author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
| Price | New from | Used from |
|
Audible Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry" |
$0.00
| Free with your Audible trial | |
|
Audio CD, CD, Unabridged
"Please retry" | $30.51 | — |
Frequently bought together
- +
- +
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from other countries
MO
A valuable speculation on the evolution of systems
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 10, 2019malfanso
Technology Needs you!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 20, 2012Martin DS
Interesting ideas but too deterministic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 2, 2013
